Maggie Redman
Margaret "Maggie" Redman (née Dunlop) was the owner of Maggie's Flowers and mother of Mark Redman. Maggie first met Mike Baldwin at Marion Willis and Eddie Yeats's engagement party in May 1982. Marion was Maggie's assistant at the flower shop. Maggie and Mike hit it off right away; Mike thought Maggie was stylish and attractive, and Maggie enjoyed Mike's Cockney charm. She also proved to be no fool - she did some checking on Mike before agreeing to go out with him - and strong enough to stop him turning to drink to deal with his grief following the death of his dad Frankie. Though they hadn't been seeing each other long, Mike invited Maggie to move in with him when she fell out with her flatmate Kathy, and she accepted. A short time later, Maggie found out she was pregnant. Mike's joyous reaction to the news was a contrast to Maggie's; she didn't want a baby and wasn't sure she wanted to be tied to Mike. Mike proposed but Maggie refused and left him. While pregnant, Maggie married Harry Redman, who had loaned her £3,000 to buy shop premises in Station Road after Mike refused. Her son Mark was born the following spring and Maggie decided to raise him as Harry's son. While she now had the family she wanted, Maggie couldn't cut Mike out of her life completely and he still showed up occasionally, like a ghost from the past. In October 1983, he met Mark for the first time when he and Maggie were guests at Marion and Eddie's wedding. Maggie offered to let Mike hold Mark but he couldn't bring himself to. In February 1984, Mike saw Maggie with Mark in the street and decided he wanted Mark in his life. Maggie was resolute, and refused to let Mike intimidate her into letting him see Mark, even threatening to call the police. Maggie and Mike looked set to take their battle to court but eventually made a deal for Mike to stay out of Mark's life in exchange for an endowment policy Mark would get when he turned eighteen. Surprisingly, Mike respected this agreement, and their next encounter was purely by chance; Maggie agreed to let Mark model children's clothes for Hopscotch, until she realised it was an outlet of Mike's factory Baldwin's Casuals and was run by his wife Susan. Susan went to Maggie and convinced her that this wasn't a plot by Mike to get close to Mark. When Mike married Jackie Ingram in 1991, Jackie ordered flowers from Maggie for the wedding, not knowing of her connection to Mike. Maggie let Mike see Mark but kept his true identity a secret. Mark finally learned the truth in January 1993. Now widowed, Maggie became close to Ken Barlow, who as Mark's teacher, had agreed to keep an eye on Mark in view of Harry's recent passing. They saw each other again when Ken saw Maggie teaching an evening flower arranging class and they agreed to a date. They struck a chord, as Ken was respectful of Maggie's loss and agreed to take things slowly but managed to get her to enjoy herself for the first time since Harry's death. He even won Mark's approval, despite Mark's initial embarrassment at his teacher dating his mum. Ken had no idea that Maggie was an old flame of Mike's until Tracy told him. Deirdre told Tracy when she recognised Maggie when Tracy got a job at Maggie's shop. Ken felt betrayed as he hated Mike but soon realised that Maggie wasn't to blame and agreed to put the issue aside. On Christmas Day 1992, Mike paid Maggie a surprise visit to give Mark a present, having been reminded of him after seeing him in Jim's Cafe. Ken saw Mike off before he could get to Mark, but the presence of Ken in the Redman household only spurred Mike on in his determination to see his son. He appeared at Maggie's door again the next day and warned Maggie that Ken was only seeing her to get at him; Maggie slapped him. Maggie worried that Mike would introduce himself to Mark but it was Tracy who later told Mark the truth about his paternity. Mark then went to Maggie for an explanation but she had no choice but t confirm what she'd told him and tell him about her history with Mike. Tracy explained to Maggie that Mark had a right to know the truth, but a furious Maggie unforgivingly told Tracy that she then also had a right to know that Deirdre and Mike once had an affair. They later apologised to each other and Tracy kept her job at the shop. Maggie tried to get Mark to forget about Mike but Mark was curious and Maggie realised it would now hurt him more to stop them having a relationship. She let Mike see Mark once a week, insisting on calling the shots on when they saw each other, but Mike's money proved hard to compete with; in March 1993, Mike told Mark he could go to Euro Disney, even though Ken was planning a trip to Brittany for the family. Mark got bored with Ken and went to stay with Mike. Maggie was worried but after a heart-to-heart with Alma, she accepted that Mike wasn't trying to take Mark from her, but that he just wanted to see his son. Ken tried to convince Maggie that this was wrong and that she should be firmer with Mike, however, tired of Ken and Mike scoring points off each other, Maggie finished with Ken. When the school year came to an end, Mike told Maggie that Mark should be at a better school. Maggie resisted his idea to send Mark away to a boarding school, but relented at his suggestion of Oakhill Private School. Maggie crossed paths with Ken again in October, when he asked her about Tracy's relationship with van driver Craig Lee. Maggie refused to get involved. In August 1994, Maggie announced that she was marrying Gerry Woodward and moving to Felixstowe, leaving Mike's life for the last time. See also *Full list of appearances External links *Maggie Redman at Corrie.net Category:Coronation Street characters Category:1947 births Category:1982 marriages Category:1982 minor characters Category:1983 minor characters Category:1984 minor characters Category:1986 minor characters Category:1991 minor characters Category:1992 minor characters Category:1993 minor characters Category:1994 minor characters Category:1994 marriages